Of love and fire
by purple devil 87
Summary: Providence held a knife and Mephistophelese held a burnt past. Alternate backstory AU.


As he walked through the remains of the old building he cringed. It was all his fault. Ash and dust littered the rooms. In the corner was a knife that was burnt and charred. But It looked...looked like the one _she_ had used (he could still feel the lumps on his back open and gently stinging under his bandages beneath his suit), but she was one of the many mistakes he had wanted to forget. Yet _oh_ the memories. They were cathartic and deadly all the same. His hands thrummed and prickled at the mere thought. He took a deep breath willing away the burning he felt under his skin. Persistent as they were though they flooded his mind.

She was perfect. He never remembered when exactly he first knew his true feelings but they were there. Feelings for a being made of starlight and darkness. He awoke to nothingness only summoned by her need of a friend.

He saw her as a companion. Spending his time with her and taking an interest in her projects. She was always one to tinker, crafting beings like theirs equipped with wings to navigate the cosmos. Crafting a world of light and peace. "Hev-uhn" she called it.

He had that fiery personality, and she liked that. "A little fun never hurt." That was her motto for the time being. For a while there she grew sated with love for his wildness. She never knew its side effects. As it was he was her only creation to poke around.

He felt something spark within him one day as an urge grew. He sat within her heaven feeling a burning sensation thrum under his skin. His hands were black and charged. Fire. it erupted from his fingertips creating light and warmth. A creation of his own. She nurtured his fire giving it a place amongst her own creations. But her decision was too reckless.

Earth. It was her magnum opus of creation. He held it within his hands flooding it with fire giving forth a destructive light. It erupted in ash and magma brought forth from his addition of fire. Her work was ruined. It burned catching the books and papers near it and leaping to his wings. He jumped back in surprise. When she found him she was hurt as her work had been destroyed. A thin and jagged line formed within her heart. He found a single word describing the loss of her sentient creations within earth. Death.

She took a knife to his charred and blackened wings ripping them from his body. Why did he deserve such gifts and love when where he would be left to exist his only duty was to carry the burden of his fire and death.

"Hell" a place to which he would stay caring for her loss. It was his custom made prison and it stretched forever and ever into the distance. Overtime they worked out a system. She sent him the beings to take care of that had died and caused the same destruction he had and he took them in as punishment.

It was by a stroke of luck that she salvaged her burning earth as life seeped back slowly evolving to become its original form. Discarded along with him was the burnt remains of her workshop ruined within the fire.

He didn't touch the building for many centuries as it too occupied his domain of Hell letting it grow old like the wounds where his wings once sat. He didn't confront his feelings. He was scared of his fire as he was of his mistake. It was uncontrollable, burning away under his skin, charing it and leaving his hands ashy and black. Yet time took over and as his emotional wounds healed so did his internal fire. It tamed itself becoming a slave to his will and emotion, but he felt it again, crackling under his skin as he began to confront his mistakes.

His hands caught fire and he sat down. Setting them away from himself for a brief moment he try'd to calm down and forget it all, but forgetting hurt even more. It hurt to forget _her_. The one with skin as dark as the night sky, her eyes the color of starlight, her smile so- he loved her still. No wonder it hurt so much to forget. He felt the stone floor which he sat upon grow warm under his hands as they burned. He wanted free from this Hell, he wanted her love again, he wanted harmony, he wanted to apologise.

There was no boundary. Beyond the areas of Hell he had set up for his own use it was a baren void. He began walking. He had no idea where he was going or how long he was walking for but he kept going. He was determined to find her and make up. With every step his resolve strengthened.

She sat alone. Something hurt inside. She hurt inside. She had hurt inside after ridding him from her life. The thin line running through her heart had widened with loneliness. Sure her creations and other beings like her own made friends for her, but they lacked the interaction she craved. Lacked the one she craved. Lacked _his_ love. She grit her teeth in frustration. She was an idiot to love someone like him anymore. Yet she did.

It was only a mistake he had made. She needed to apologise as she had overreacted. Yes he did deserve to take care of what he had created, but cutting away his wings and ridding him from her life to rot away in his own prison was never apart of it all. She could have fixed them if she tried and felt wrong for cutting them off. Slowly she stood feeling a plan of hope and apology arise. Yet she also felt something inside pull her in. The force it held was strong and so against her better judgement she followed it.

The void shifted and turned with their every step like a tangled rope coming undone, and with them at either side they unwound it. Each kink they worked through in the tangle brought them ever closer to the inexorable moment.

He saw her approach from the distance drawing nearer."Providence!?" Her eyes grew wide with a mix of emotions. "M-meph?" Mephistopheles reached out grasping her hands within his. For a second their eyes locked before he looked down noticing a familiar charred stone floor. The old burnt workshop that had housed Providences creations materialised around them. They were meant to meet here.

Mephistopheles took a deep breath. He felt the words catch in his throat. "I-im sorry. I know I meant well, but…" "It's my fault," Providence countered "I know you made your mistakes, and it is your task to take care of them, yet I shouldn't have overreacted. I could have fixed your wings. I could have done so many other things, but instead I hurt you as a result of my pain. Please, can we work together to fix this?" "Alright." The wound in her heart was shrinking with her apologies and love. "You promise this won't ever happen again?" Mephistopheles asked "It won't." Providence reassured. She took his warm and sooty hands within her own simply holding them. As she held his hands he felt the burning cease and reignite his fiery personality once again. No longer would he burn out of emotion or hurt, he would burn out of passion once more.


End file.
